Sunday, May 24, 2020

On Yeast

I became curious on the history of yeast when Baili made a comment on my cinnamon roll post recently.  She was confused about yeast which made me realize how little I knew about it, never having even made bread from yeast.

I have learned that yeast is a fungi like its mushroom relative. There are at least 1500 species of this microorganism. Yeast cells exist in soil, on plants, in the air. They lodge on berries for example and ferment producing alcohol.

Yeast fermentation is used in beer and wine making as well as in bread baking.

Egyptians were making bread using yeast 5000 years ago. Not understanding the science, they thought the resulting baked bread  was a miracle! Around the first century AD the Gauls and Iberians made bread using beer foam. In 1680 the microscope was invented by Anton Van Leeuwenhoek. Now they were able to see the yeast at the cell level. In 1857 Louis Pasteur discovered the fermentation process caused by yeast. It feeds on starches in flour producing carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol. The dough rises as the carbon monoxide expands inside and the alcohol imparts flavour and aroma.

It is a fascinating study with a lot to learn.  Here are the links I used to find this information:

https://redstaryeast.com/science-yeast/story-yeast/

https://www.breadworld.com/education/history-of-yeast/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeast

https://www.exploreyeast.com/article/the-history-of-yeast






14 comments:

Valerie-Jael said...

It is indeed an interesting product. Thanks for sharing! Hugs, Valerie

Elkes Lebensglück said...

true yeast is always something adventurous for me
whether it goes on or not.
It’s interesting
Have a beautiful Sunday!

Jenn Jilks said...

I have yeast from 2016, but I proofed it. There is nothing I can make that hubby can have, he is intolerant of yeast. sigh.

R's Rue said...

Interesting.

gigi-hawaii said...

Good to know. Thanks.

Lowcarb team member said...

Love this post, a fascinating read and thanks for the links.

All the best Jan

sandy said...

good to know - enjoyed learning.

Wanda said...

Thank you, Christine for the yeast lesson from History. You know the Bible is filled with stories and examples of yeast. It was nice to hear it from another aspect.

Monica Hein ~ Beauty Diary said...

Interesting :)

Chris Lally said...

Really interesting! Thanks for the links:)

peppylady (Dora) said...

cool, I haven't every worked with sourdough starter.

Ananka said...

Good to know. And just how important it has been!

baili said...

thank you sooo much for this one specially Christine

after reading this incredibly interesting and informative post i googled about to find out one my mother used to obtain from wheat after long process ,i don't know if i got it correct as buck wheat because the wheat she would get at the end was so white and silky i wish i would have ponder more when she did this
thank you again i learnt so much :)

Anonymous said...

So interesting!